The present invention relates to the knitting of seamless hose and in particular to the method of forming hosiery such as socks, stockings and the like with closed toe portions in the form of a pocket which is constricted about its center.
Methods of closing the toe portions of knitted hosiery are well known in which the hose is twisted and/or constricted directly on the knitting machine to form a closed pocket. Such techniques present a particular problem which has as yet not been solved with sufficient satisfaction. The twisting or constricting of the hose confines the knitwork forming the wall of the hose into a diameter several times smaller than the diameter of the knitwork actually formed on the knitting machine. Consequently an undesirable and uncontrolled layering and overlapping of the knitwork takes place in the constricted section and as a result a lower quality of hose is produced both from the viewpoint of appearance as well as from wearability. Additionally the overlapping layers of fabric are uncomfortable and become a cause of sore feet during wearing as a result of the pressing of the shoe against the toes.
One of the methods of solving this problem, reduces the volume of the knitwork by omitting some loop courses in the section of the toe portion to be constricted. When knitting the toe portion of the hose as the final step, this is performed by not knitting the toe portion on all of the needles in the cylinder and the needles are brought to such a position that they do not catch the yarn. As a result free sections are formed between two adjacent loop wales. This method successfully reduces the volume of the knitwork but it does not overcome the unsightly overlapping and layering of the knitwork in the closed area, because it does not successfully reduce the overall diameter of the toe portion.
Another solution which has been attempted called for knitting the knitwork of the closing toe portion from a rib structure having the inherent property of causing the hose to assume a smaller diameter. This can be obtained by forming the purl loop wales so that they are displaced in the knitwork behind the rib loop wales. As a result the outer circumference of the hose has a smaller number of loop wales than the actual number of wales in the knitwork. This solution, however, has the disadvantage in that it can be only formed on a knitting machine having two needle beds and thus in particular is adaptable only to two cylinder circular machines.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a method for forming hose having closed toe portions which overcome the disadvantages and defects of the prior art method.
It is another object of the present invention to provide circular knit hose having an improved closed toe portion in which the disadvantages and defects of overlapping and layering common in the prior art are avoided.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a circular knit hose having reduced volume and yarn in the constricted portion and which may thus be closed in a more efficient and improved manner.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for forming circular knit hose having an improved closed toe portion capable of being knit on one needle cylinder machine as well as on two needle cylinder machines.
The foregoing objects, other objects and the numerous advantages of the present invention method and hose will be apparent from the following disclosure of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.